Our Events

Follow us

Account

Close-Up: Can UK creatives make it in the US?

Crossing the Pond can be a tricky career move for British creatives. John Tylee finds out why.

In quitting CHI & Partners to take creative command of DDB in Chicago,
Ewan Paterson joins what has always been a trickle rather than a flood
of British creatives seeking to make their mark Stateside. On the face
of it, this seems curious. The UK and the US having long vied with each
other to be the world's best when it comes to creative advertising. So
why haven't more Brits tried building their careers within the
advertising superpower?

"Going to the US is a very big move," Paterson agrees. "But you might
just as easily ask why there's only a handful of non-UK creative
directors working in London."

For those who have crossed the Atlantic, fortunes have been mixed. Mark
Tutssel, Tim Mellors and Mark Wnek slotted comfortably into their
respective roles at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Grey Group and Lowe North
America.

However, Paul Silburn, now in joint control of the creative department
at Saatchi & Saatchi in London, was fired after just 11 months as the
executive creative director of Fallon in Minneapolis. "Professionally,
I'm disappointed," he said at the time. "Personally, I feel very happy
to be going home."

Certainly, adjusting to a very different way of working can be
difficult. And not just because of what can be an unforgiving
environment, in which the threat of being fired is ever-present.

Not only do creatives have to come to terms with the scale of the US
industry, but they have to be very quick learners when it comes to US
culture. The worst thing you can do, according to UK agency figures with
extensive US experience, is to barge in expecting to show the Yanks how
it's done.

At the same time, British creatives in Manhattan can delude themselves
into believing that they're in the true heart of the US. "Everybody in
New York comes from somewhere else. It's not the real America," Sir John
Hegarty, Bartle Bogle Hegarty's worldwide creative director, who spent
more than two years working in the city, says. "This is a country of
more than 300 million people, many of whom work in very different
ways."

Overcoming the unspoken feeling among many US clients that British
creatives don't really understand Americans can be hard too, Hegarty
suggests.

What makes it even harder, Andrew Robertson, the New York-based Briton
running BBDO Worldwide, adds, is that newly arrived UK creatives don't
have a knowledge of things such as US sport and the top TV shows against
which they can pitch their ideas.

"In the UK, you know how to argue the points," Hegarty says. "In the US,
you don't have the reference points. It doesn't mean you can't do it -
but it's something of which you have to be very aware."

Also, as Hegarty points out, the British preoccupation with being small
and agile doesn't cut any ice in a country where big is beautiful,
$25 million ad budgets are chickenfeed and 40-strong agency
groups working on a single account are commonplace.

"These are fiefdoms that know how their clients think and won't take
kindly to any creative director coming in and trying to change
everything," he declares. "You have to start at the outer edges and work
towards the centre."

Small wonder that most US executive creative directors are likely to be
more business-minded than their UK counterparts. "For one thing, they
have bigger departments to manage," Robertson points out. "For another,
they're expected to be involved with clients' business in a way that,
perhaps, wouldn't happen in the UK."

- Got a view? E-mail us at campaign@haymarket.com

Network head - Andrew Robertson, chief executive, BBDO Worldwide

"I don't think it's the fear of crashing and burning that's stopped a
lot of UK creatives making their mark in the US. It's more to do with
them feeling more comfortable in their own environment.

"Coming to work in US advertising means learning new stuff because of
the scale of the industry. Clients expect to see a lot more alternative
ideas than is usually the case in the UK.

"What's more, it can be hard for UK creatives at first because they
don't have knowledge of the cultural touchstones such as baseball and
the top TV shows. These things can be quickly learned - but you have to
be conscious of them."

"The reason so few UK creative directors go to work in the US is because
the US already has lots of very good ones of its own. I also think it's
enormously hard for a UK creative to gain the authority he needs when
dealing with US clients. They make all the right noises but you know
they're really thinking that the British don't understand Americans.

"You also have to come to terms with a much more open culture. Everybody
is enthusiastic about everything and then you may find they don't really
like an idea. You have to be able to get below the enthusiasm to
understand the real game."

Creative - Paul Silburn, creative partner, Saatchi & Saatchi

"The first thing you have to come to terms with is the amount of time
you spend on planes because your clients are likely to be spread across
the US.

"The other problem is hiring the right people. In London, that's quite
easy because you have a good idea of who you want and whether or not
they'll be a good fit. In the US, that's a lot more difficult.

"Fortunately, Ewan (Paterson) has already worked for DDB and understands
its culture. But he'll need to get some loyal and trusted people around
him. It won't work without the right chemistry."

"I'd be worried about going to the US to join a network I didn't know -
but that's not the case. Not only did I work for DDB for ten years, but
my boss will be Bob Scarpelli, who I know well.

"I'm eager to get immersed in US culture as quickly as I can. Obviously,
I don't know much about US sport or who the country's hottest comedian
is but creativity is about ideas and it's not as though there won't be
others around to help me.

"I know it won't be like the London ad world but the thought of
producing work on a much larger scale is very attractive."

Topics

Join a growing community of media, marketing and advertising professionals today